The invention is in the field of microelectronics, and in particular relates to creating "via holes" in thin ceramic wafers. The via holes in the wafers are subsequently filled with a conductive ink and stacked to be used in integrated circuits. The desired end result is an extremely dense integrated circuit.
One of the major current thrusts in leading edge electronics technology is the continued micro-miniaturization of all circuitry to bring components closer together, minimizing electronic reaction time between components and further speeding up the action of the system.
Three-dimensional circuitry has long been used in integrated circuits to minimize distance between components. Typically, these IC's are made of a stack of up to twenty insulating wafers, each having a pattern of via holes different from the others, with circuitry being screened on at least one side of each wafer to define current paths through the via holes and then laterally between insulating wafers through the interstitial circuitry to connect to other via holes.
As integrated circuits have become more and more condensed, efficiently producing the insulating ceramic wafers with the appropriate pattern of minute via holes has become more expensive and complex. If feasible, mechanically drilling the hole pattern for the punch pins into the punch mount is the most efficient and practical techniques. As the via holes are made smaller and smaller however, creating the punch mount which mounts the thousands of punch pins which punch the via holes in the wafers becomes more difficult. Computer operated mechanical drilling systems can economically produce holes down to about 10 mils but below that size, mechanical drilling becomes impractical. Via holes between 5 and 8 mils are currently the state of the art. Providing the mounting holes in a punch mount for these narrow diameter pins, as well as the corresponding punch-receiving hole pattern in the die plate and creating a die for producing very small closely packed via holes is the problem which this invention addresses.